All I want
by WorldofImagination18
Summary: "I thought all the near misses with death were supposed to have finished now Voldemort is gone?" After everything that has happened, Hermione just wants to relax this Christmas and ignore her growing feelings for one half of the Weasley twins. But thanks to a scheming Ginny, a snowball battle, and a frozen lake; she realises Fred Weasley isn't someone who can be ignored.


Hermione tugged at the blanket covering her knees. Even with her new Weasley knitted jumper and a roaring fire right next to her; she was still cold. The book sat against her drawn knees; the open pages staring back at her. Hermione smiled. Whilst the rest of the Weasleys were busy outside; she didn't have the heart to join them. This was her first Christmas since the Battle for Hogwarts. And the only way she'd ever be able to fully relax, was to stick her head in a book for a few hours. It also meant she could try and forget the fact that this was also going to be the first proper Christmas without her parents. The Christmas before didn't exactly count since no one had been doing anything especially festive – their minds focused on more important things. But this year was different. This year there were presents, and a dinner, and family members filling the house. Hermione had tried to bottle it all up; but she knew Ginny had heard her crying that night, and she knew Fred had seen her sneak away after dinner.

Hermione turned the page. That was another thing reading could make her try and forget. She couldn't exactly ignore Fred given she was now living under the same roof as him. But she could at least try and ignore her feelings for him. Something he seemed to be doing as well. Neither of them had mentioned their kiss during the battle. Once Fred had left hospital, neither of them had really mentioned anything beyond daily pleasantries. At first, Hermione had preferred it that way. She had enough things to be dealing with without adding the possibility of a new relationship on top of it all. But as the months had passed, she was no longer so sure. At least now she could have a few hours of peace and quiet to try and regain some normality back into her Christmas.

"You aren't spending Boxing Day stuck inside reading!"

"Ginny!" Hermione reached for the book, but the younger girl had already dropped it on the chair in the opposite corner of the room.

"The boys want to have a snowball fight. You should join in."

"Ginny," Hermione shook her head. "I just want to stay inside and read."

"_Please!_ I know you said you aren't great at throwing, but it'll be fun. Besides," she winked, "Fred would want you there."

Hermione shook her head. She was seriously regretting letting Ginny into the fact that she had kissed Fred. At least Ginny didn't know just how much she liked him. She knew Ginny suspected. But she didn't know anything for certain.

"Fine." Hermione rolled her eyes and pushed the blanket to the floor. "Just let me grab my coat."

Ginny reached behind her and threw Hermione's coat at her. Slipping it on, Hermione couldn't help but smile.

"I swear Ginny, you're getting more like your mother every day."

"Do _not _say that to the others." Ginny grabbed Hermione's hand and began pulling her towards the door. "They'll never let me hear the end of it for as long as I live."

* * *

Hermione followed Ginny over to where the rest of the Weasley children were. She spotted Harry first. Although unsurprisingly his gaze was focused more on Ginny than her. Fred and George were in deep discussion whilst Ron and Percy shot her looks of mild surprise.

"Told you I'd get her outside." Ginny said triumphantly. Hermione tucked her hands in her pockets. She wished she'd grabbed her hat before going outside. Snow covered everything she could see; and she noticed that all the Weasleys had brightly coloured bobble hats.

"Another Christmas present from Mum," George explained. "I imagine by next year she'll have moved on to knitting us trousers and shirts."

Hermione gave a small nod as her eyes fell onto Fred. His own hat was bright pink with a purple bobble sitting on the top. She raised an eyebrow.

"It was meant to be for Ginny," he explained. "But mum put the wrong labels on, and Ginny refused to give hers up."

"It looks very…." Hermione nodded. "Warm."

Fred grinned. "You're just being nice. Listen, do me a favour and aim a snowball at it and then I can say I 'lost it'. I'd be eternally grateful."

"You're assuming I'll even be able to aim."

"Well," Ginny said. "He's got a big enough head to aim for. Now then. Usual rule: no magic. Also, I was thinking we should mix the teams up this year since we now have extra family members."

Hermione shot a look at Harry. The gratitude in his eyes matched hers. The moment the battle of Hogwarts had finished, both Mr and Mrs Weasley had told Harry and Hermione they could stay with them as long as they liked. Within two months, it was like they were officially part of the family. Hermione hugged her body to try and keep warm.

"Who usually goes with who."

"Fred and George go with me. Ron and Percy go together with Charlie but he's not here this year."

"Why not split Fred and George up," Ron grinned. "Make it a fair fight this time."

"You're just worried you'll have to actually put some effort in now Charlie isn't here." Fred said. Ginny nodded.

"Okay. George you go with Ron, Percy and Harry. I'll go with Fred and Hermione."

Hermione moved over to Fred as the others split up into their teams.

"I should say now…. i'm going to be no use at all."

Fred smiled. "Charlie used to do most of the work for Ron and Percy. And I know how George tackles a snowball fight. Trust me, we've got this in the bag."

With a nod Hermione gave another shiver. Fred narrowed his eyes.

"Are you okay?"

"Bit cold. Ginny dragged me out before I could get my hat."

Fred didn't reply. Instead he pulled his bobble hat off and gently tugged it down over her own head.

"Fred this is your-"

"Very hideous Christmas present. Now I have a perfect excuse to get rid of it."

Hermione shot him a grateful smile. "Thanks. Fred….can we….at some point could we maybe….talk?"

Fred opened his mouth when Ginny cleared her throat. "Now then lovebirds," she said. "We've only got a few minutes. Let's talk tactics."

As Ginny launched into her plan, Hermione glanced at Fred. He gave her a soft smile and nodded.

"_We will_," he mouthed, _"I promise."_

* * *

It only took ten minutes for Hermione to realise just how seriously the Weasley family took their snowball fights. She had initially assumed Ginny was joking when she'd started discussing tactics. But when Fred had joined in, she realised this was more than a fun way to spend an afternoon. Now, ten minutes in and she realised she was going to have to up her game and quickly. Two snowballs sat in either hand as she crouched down behind a tree. She knew Ron doing the same thing on the other side. It was just a question of who went first. Hermione shuffled forward slightly and threw one snowball wide. Ron's head ducked out and she threw the other one. It splattered against his shoulder and she ducked down to avoid his return attack.

"Hey," Fred shot her a grin. "Doing better than you said you would. Are you sure you were telling us the truth when you said you weren't into sports? Because you'd have made a good Chaser."

Hermione nodded. "Trust me. I'm getting a lot of lucky shots."

"Well," Fred jumped to his feet and threw a snowball over her head. He grinned at Ron's shout of disgust."

"I'll take lucky shots any day." He bent down and gathered up several more clumps of snow.

"Listen. Harry's just over that hill there. I'll cover you and you go for him."

"Trying to take out Harry Potter are we?" Hermione grinned. Fred shrugged.

"Just want to see what he's made of. I mean Voldemort is one thing. A Weasley family snowball fight is another."

Hermione kept her head low as she hurried forward. She felt snow flying overheard from both sides. Only when she was in the clear did she stop and collect some fresh snowballs of her own. The hill wasn't exactly high. But in the thick snow it was a slight struggle. Her feet sunk several inches with each step, and she knew her socks would be soaked through. Hermione gripped the snowballs in her hands as she reached the rise of the hill.

"Behind you Ha-"

The snow beneath her feet broke away. Both snowballs hit her in the face as she fell forward. Hermione shut her eyes as she rolled downwards. She knew the hill wasn't steep and so it wasn't long before her body stopped rolling and instead slid for a few more feet. Only when everything had stopped moving, did she dare open her eyes. She was lying on her stomach and the ground beneath her was a lot smoother. Hermione blinked to try and clear her vision. Her nose was inches from a patch of ice. She flexed her fingers. Nothing seemed broken. Although her left arm was aching like mad. With a sigh, she pushed herself up.

_Crack._

Hermione froze and slowly glanced around her. She hadn't been looking at a single patch of ice. She'd been looking at a section of the frozen lake near the Burrow. The frozen lake she was now lying on.

_Crack._

It was only a small crack. But it was right where her right hand was. Forcing herself not to move. Hermione took a deep breath. She knew she couldn't stay here indefinitely. But the slightest movement could have the whole thing shatter beneath her.

"I thought I'd be done with near death encounters," she muttered. With a small nod, she crawled forward. It was only by a few centimetres. But several more cracks appeared in the ice around her.

"Hermione? Did you get Harry?"

Tears began to crawl down her cheeks as another – much larger – crack suddenly appeared directly underneath her.

"Hermione?" She could hear the concern in Fred's voice. Hermione forced her head up.

"Fred? Down here!"

There was silence for a few seconds. Then a head popped up over the rise of the hill. Fred's bright hair stood out against the whiteness of their surroundings. At least the safety of actual ground wasn't too far away. Fred's eyes widened and Hermione watched him hurriedly scramble down the hill.

"Hermione!" He came to a halt at the edge of the lake. "Don't move."

"Easy for you to say." Another crack sounded close to where her knees where. She inched forward. Was it her imagination or where her knees now slightly wet? Fred shook his head.

"Seriously don't move! I'll go and get George."

"No!" Hermione shook her head. "No, I think I can get there."

"Hermione…." Fred looked over his shoulder for a second before turning back to face her and holding his hand out.

"Go slowly. Really slowly."

Hermione inched forward. Her knees sunk slightly, and she lifted them back onto the frozen lake. She was aware of more cracks appearing all around her.

"Almost there." Fred's voice was thick with worry. Hermione didn't dare lift her head up to look at him. Instead, she quickened her pace slightly.

"Nearly there Fred. Nearly-"

"Hermione!"

Her forehead smacked against the ice as the area around her right hand broke away and her arm plunged into the water.

"Hang on I'll come and get you."

"No!" She looked over at him. His foot hovering over the edge of the ice.

"Fred you step on here and it'll break." Her right hand had gone numb. With a gasp of pain, Hermione wrenched it from the lake and back into the cold air. Her skin stung and she knew she needed to hurry. Ignoring the continuous cracks beneath her, she abandoned all need for caution and hurriedly crawled towards Fred. He reached out a hand.

"Gottcha!"

Hermione gripped his hands as the ice beneath her shattered. She felt her body falling downwards and water lapped against her waist. A hand shot out and grabbed the front of her coat. Using her own aching hands, she pushed her body out of the lake and back onto the snow. Hermione blinked. Unable to tear her gaze away from the snow beneath her. Hands pulled her into a sitting position.

"Hey," Fred blinked several times in quick succession. "Hey it's okay. I've got you."

Hermione nodded; fully aware of how red his eyes were getting. She forced herself to steady her breathing; aware of how much her body was shaking. Fred hugged her close.

"We need to get you back inside. Get you warmed up."

Hermione gasped as Fred picked her up in his arms. She knew he was strong from his years playing Quidditch, but it still felt odd for him to be carrying her.

"Thanks." She gripped his coat in an effort to bury her hands into something warm. "I wouldn't have gotten out without you."

Fred smiled weakly. "I thought all the near misses with death were supposed to have finished now Voldemort is gone?"

Hermione smiled back. "After seven years, an uneventful Christmas isn't really my thing."

* * *

Hermione was surprised the Burrow was still empty. She knew Mr and Mrs Weasley weren't back until later. But she had assumed the snowball fight would have already finished by now.

"They won't be back for a while," Fred said in response to her expression. "Our snowballs fights have a habit of lasting for hours and hours. Just hope Ginny doesn't realise she's now outnumbered. If she does, then she'll give us hell when she gets back."

Hermione didn't say anything. Instead she let Fred sit her down against the fire with her back pressed against the armchair. She sighed. She'd been sitting in this exact spot only an hour ago.

"Here you go," Fred tucked a thick blanket around her legs before grabbing a knitted throw from the sofa and wrapping it around the rest of her body.

"I'll get you some tea." He turned to go when his eyes widened.

"Wait, is your hand okay? And your forehead? I didn't even ask if you were hurt or not?"

"I'm fine," Hermione said reassuringly. "I'll have a bit of a headache tomorrow and a few bruises. But I'm fine."

Fred nodded. Still not completely sure. Hermione tugged the hat from her head.

"Sorry I couldn't lose this for you in the process."

Fred instead pushed it over both of her hands.

"Try and get warm and I'll get you some tea."

* * *

Hermione sat the empty mug beside her. Fred was sitting close beside her and she was aware of how tempting it was to snuggle up against him. But instead she stretched out her arms.

"Still can't believe they are still out there."

Fred smirked. "You should have seen us a couple of years ago. Covered all of Boxing Day _and_ most of the night! Mum and Dad were actually getting really worried about us."

Hermione laughed at the image. With a quick glance around the empty room she took a deep breath. This wasn't exactly going to be the best time. But she knew moments alone were a luxury in the Burrow. She wouldn't get any moment alone with Fred for a while.

"Fred-"

"Is this a N.E.W.T level textbook?" He reached over and picked up the book she'd been reading earlier. Hermione nodded.

"Figured I should do some studying over the holidays. I missed the first few months, so I don't want to be behind when I go back in January."

Fred shook his head with a smile. "Hermione Granger, you could never be behind in a class. Anyway, I swear you were reading stuff of this level in your sixth year."

She nodded. "I know. But that was just as a hobby. This time I need to make sure I'm taking it all in."

"Are you nervous? About going back?"

She nodded. "After the past year, it's going to be weird going back to school as though nothing happened. And I don't know if I'm ready to deal with people asking questions about everything. I guarantee someone will ask about Malfoy Manor and I don't think I'll be able to deal with having to answer them."

Fred took her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"Well if anyone keeps bothering you for stories about what happened, tell me and I'll let them unknowingly try out our latest creations. Even before we've tested them."

Hermione shuffled closer to him. "I appreciate the thought. But I'll still confiscate any of your products regardless of the sentiment behind them."

"And there was me thinking you'd moved over the side of pranking. Seems living with us hasn't quite turned you."

"Sorry," Hermione said. "Still going to be a rule-following bookworm."

Fred settled against her. "Probably for the best. I like the rule-following bookworm more."

Hermione watched his eyes widen slightly as he realised what he had said. She took a deep breath.

"Fred. About what happened during the battle. We need to talk about it."

He nodded and she forced herself to carry on.

"I know it was just one kiss and it was in the midst of us fighting for our lives and was probably something done it the heat of the moment. And if that's all it was for you then that's fine. I just want to know where I stand in all of this. I know you probably want to forget it ever happened and that's totally fine if that's the case."

"Woah!" Fred shook his head. "Hermione you think I want to forget it ever happened?"

"Well…. yes. I mean you've not really mentioned it to me since you got back home. And…. you've not exactly been avoiding me, but you've not made any effort to spend time with me. I just want to know where _we_ are."

"Hermione." Fred grabbed her hands and held them tightly in his own.

"Believe me I never want to forget it happened. Ever. It's just you've had so much to try and deal with over the past few months. Getting used to life without Voldemort. Trying to come to terms with everything that happened to you. Staring your final year. Your parents. I didn't want to make that even worse. I just thought you deserved some space to come to terms with everything."

"So…" Hermione risked a glance at his face. "So the kiss…"

Fred gently stroked her knuckled with his thumb before pressing a gentle kiss to them.

"Hermione, that kiss was probably the best moment of my life. I hadn't seen you in so long and I had no idea if either of us were going to survive the battle. I just thought that, if I did die, I wanted to die having kissed you at least once."

Hermione interlaced their fingers together. "I just assumed you wanted to pretend it never happened. And I'm not exactly used to guys kissing me, so I didn't know how to approach it with you."

"Well," Fred ran a hand through his hair as an unusually nervous look crossed his face.

"I'm hoping I can maybe get you a bit more used to it."

He pushed her hair from her face and Hermione leaned forward. The kiss during the battle had been rushed but filled with desperate longing. This was different. This one was more careful. More considered. As though both she and Fred wanted to actually appreciate the moment they were in. She broke it off with a smile.

"I think I could probably get used to that quite easily."

Fred grinned. His cheeks more flushed than his hair.

"I guess this means I can give you your Christmas present now."

"But you and George already gave me one!"

"I know," he jumped to his feet and hurried over to a pile of clutter in the farthest corner.

"But this is something I've been working on for a while and I finished it last night. I wasn't sure if I should give it to you, in case you thought I was trying to push you into anything." He winked at her. "But I guess we now know how you feel about me."

Hermione pretended to consider his words. "I'm not sure. I think I'd maybe need to get more facts about that before I can decide."

Fred hurriedly kissed her again. "Well the others will be out for a while yet and mum and dad won't be back until late. No doubt we can use the time to gather more facts to help your decision." He handed her a heavy parcel. "But first, open it."

Hermione took the present; aware of how much neater the wrapping was compared to the presents Fred had given yesterday. She held the tag in her hands.

_I know it's nothing compared to the real thing. But you deserve to have something of them._

_Lots of love, Fred x_

"Fred-"

"Just open it," he whispered.

Hermione gently undid the wrapping and tore the paper away. A thick album sat in her hands. She opened it up and her mouth dropped. A painting of her, her mum and dad stared back at her. The painting was small – around the size of a photograph.

"Merry Christmas Hermione."

With shaking hands, Hermione turned the pages one by one. More and more paintings and drawings filled the pages. Some were of her with her parents when she was younger. Others were just of her and some were just of her parents at various ages.

"I know some of them might not be accurate," Fred slid down beside her. "I didn't have a lot to go off."

"You did all this?"

He nodded. "I used what few photos you were able to get from your house with them in. And of course, we've got lots of you when you've been here and at Hogwarts. I had to sort of guess at younger you."

Hermione shook her head. "That's not what I meant. You _drew _these?"

Fred nodded. "It hadn't done it in ages. It's just a hobby mainly; and it helped me fill the time while I was in hospital and when I first got back home. But I knew you no longer had any family photos and figured this was the next best thing."

Hermione shut the album as tears dripped down her face. She slid the book to one side and turned to face Fred. He gently brushed several tears away.

"Is it okay?"

Hermione nodded. "It's perfect Fred. I didn't think I'd ever get them back. Thank you."

Fred pulled her against him, and Hermione buried her face in his chest. He gently rubbed her back. His lips brushing against her forehead.

"They'll always be with you Hermione. No matter what."

Hermione nodded. "Thank you for making this Christmas magical." She leaned up and pressed her lips to his. Fred cupped her face. His fingers burying themselves in her hair. Hermione kissed him one last time before easing away. She pressed her forehead against his and Fred blinked back a tear.

"Thank you for doing the same with mine."

_**AN: **__**All the Christmas themed fluff! I know we've a few days until Christmas but I couldn't resist sharing this one. I was very pleasantly surprised with the response to my first Fremione fic so big thanks to everyone who read it, liked it and reviewed it. Got plenty more ideas rattling around my brain so fingers crossed they go down just as well. Feel free to review and let me know what you think. **__**I don't own Happy Potter or any of the characters.**__** xx**_


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